


To The World You May Be One Person...

by soldiermom1973



Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [36]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Citadel DLC, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, mentor, the clone - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973
Summary: Allie reflects on the lives she changed in the course of her career, and one she wishes she could have.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard, Normandy Crew & Female Shepard
Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1460416
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	To The World You May Be One Person...

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from the Dr. Seuss quote, "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." (At least, that's who I'm going with. Google gave me at least 3 sources and Theodore Geisel is the one I'm most familiar with).

Another memorial service had come and gone. Nine years since the Reaper cycles ended. Nine years of relative peace and quiet in the galaxy. And, as usual, the old crew of the Normandy gathered in Allie's apartment to wax nostalgic. They talked about everything that happened that led up to the Reaper invasion and what went on during the war that finally saw the Reapers defeated. Talk finally turned to the clone and how the 'other' Shepard tried stealing the Normandy and Allie's life.

“There's something that always bugged me, though,” Garrus mused, his mandibles twitching in thought. “Why did you try to save her?”

All eyes were on Allie. “Wait, what?” Joker was incredulous. “You seriously tried to save her?”

“She did,” Garrus nodded. “After Kaidan and I pulled Shepard back into the ship...”

“That gave me about a hundred more grey hairs, too,” Kaidan muttered. “Please never to that again.”

Allie chuckled when Kaidan kissed the top of her head. “I promise to try,” she smiled.

“...Shepard turned around and offered to help pull that clone back on board, too. She let go, instead.” Garrus finished.

“Shepard, are you crazy? Wait, don't answer that,” Joker groaned. “Why? Why would you do that? She tried killing you, killing all of us! All this time I thought she just fell off on her own.”

“Well, she did,” Allie shrugged, staring at her drink.

“But not before you tried to help her.” Joker actually looked angry and Allie just shook her head.

Allie sighed and let her eyes roam around the room, not surprised to see disbelief on some of her friends' faces. She sighed again and shook her head. “She was who I could have become.”

“Yeah, so?” Joker asked.

“When I lost my family on Mindoir, I could have become the most closed-minded, xenophobic bitch in the galaxy and no one would have blamed me. Instead I was lucky enough to be surrounded by love and support. I was lucky enough to have people around me who cared enough about me to not let that happen, to make me see that it isn't 'all batarians' or 'all turians'. 

Allie smiled when Kaidan slipped his arm around her waist and gave a gentle squeeze, knowing he was thinking about a conversation they had on the SR-1 about Vyrnuus.

She sighed again and took another drink from her glass. “Can you imagine if there was two of me, though? I mean two just like me. The same skills, the same training, the same passion for saving as many people as possible?”

“Hopefully her driving would have been better,” Wrex laughed. “I can still picture Garrus there all hunched over that Mako, cussing you out under his breath because of how you drove that thing.”

Everyone laughed and Garrus just shrugged. “My driving was not that bad,” Allie grumbled, shaking her head. “But seriously, can you imagine it? Maybe if there had been two of us, the galaxy would have been better prepared for the Reapers. Saying no to one Shepard was one thing, but saying no to two? Probably impossible.”

“That's... that's probably scarily accurate,” Kaidan admitted.

“That doesn't answer the question, though,” James said. “Why did you try to save that bitch?”

Allie raised an eyebrow and shot James a look. “Because I wanted her to have a chance. All she knew was the hatred Brooks spoon-fed her. She didn't know what love really was. She didn't know what it was like to really have someone in her corner.”

Allie felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as she continued, “You should have seen her face when Brooks didn't help her. She asked why me, what made me so special as Garrus and Kaidan ran down the ramp to pull me up. She looked at Brooks, who just shook her head and walked away. Can you imagine how she felt? Knowing the one person she thought she could trust just turn on her and walk away?”

She swirled her drink around in her glass and sniffed. “I wanted her to have a chance to know what it was like to be truly loved and supported. To be surrounded by people she could really count on.”

“And you think people would have trusted her? You think _we_ would have?” Joker asked.

Allie shrugged. “She'd have had her work cut out for her, that's for sure, but at least that chance, that _choice_ would have been hers to make.”

“Well, my glass is empty. Who else wants a refill?” Allie was thankful Traynor spoke up and changed the subject. Conversation drifted away from the clone and back to other current, more mundane things. Allie accepted a newly-filled glass from Kaidan, who tugged her against him.

“You know, when I saw you try to save the... 'other' you, I didn't understand why. I was going to ask what you were doing, but just as quick I knew I needed to trust you. When it was all said and done, I figured that was why you did it. It made me love you even more. You always want to help as many people as you can, even the ones who might not deserve it.”

Allie set her glass on the counter and pulled herself tighter into Kaidan's embrace. “It's not my place to decide who deserves it. If I can help someone and don't, it reflects on my character.”

“And what if they really didn't deserve it?” Kaidan stepped back and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. “What if you had saved that clone and she wound up betraying you?”

“Then that speaks about her character.” Allie smiled and returned Kaidan's gesture. “I can look myself in the mirror every day, proud of who I am and the things I've done. Not many people can say the same thing. Helping people is who I am, Kaidan. That will never change.”

“Good,” Kaidan said, hugging her close again. “I don't want it to.”

The party continued and Allie mingled with her guests – her _friends_ \- and thought about how she had impacted all of their lives.

Wrex had gone from not giving a damn about what happened to his people to being one of their most successful leaders. Was it because she helped find his family armor? Was it because she stood her ground against him on Virmire? Maybe, maybe not, but Allie was pretty sure he wouldn't be the Urdnot clan leader otherwise.

And Tali, going from a young, unsure quarian on her pilgramage to one of the most respected Admirals her people had ever followed. Tali had been with her from the beginning, even trusting her enough to help her against the Collectors. Allie wasn't sure if she could pick any one moment that had helped Tali grow so much and maybe it was arrogant to think it was all because of Allie's influence, but she was certain her role in Tali's life wasn't an insigificant one.

Garrus actually learned patience over the years and that not shooting someone was sometimes an option. From hot-headed C-Sec officer and (in his own words) failed vigilante, her favorite turian now stood at Primarch Victus's side as his most trusted advisor.

Liara went from a shy, awkward archaeologist to the galaxy's most powerful information broker. Allie was surprised her identity was still a secret, considering how many people knew about it.

Jack was no longer the angry, rage-filled convict Allie recruited all those years ago. Sure, she was still rough around the edges and that would probably never change, but she was one of the best teachers Grissom Academy had Students clamored to take her classes, knowing the Psychotic Biotic would train them and take good care of them.

“Penny?” Kaidan asked, sneaking up behind her again.

Allie gave a half-frown and shook her head. “Nothing, really, just thinking about the people in this room and how much they changed over the years.”

“And most, if not all, of that is probably because of you, you know,” Kaidan told her.

“Yeah, I like to think some of it is, anyway.”

“All of it, most likely. You know, when we first met on the Normandy, my hatred for turians ran a little deeper than I let on. I couldn't stand being around Garrus, but all those talks you had with me made me see I was wrong. If you hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened?”

“Really? You hid it well.”

“For purely selfish reasons,” Kaidan grinned. “I was smitten even back then and I was afraid if you thought I was an alien hater, you'd stop coming around.”

“Well, lucky for you, I was smitten, too, so I doubt that would have happened,” Allie grinned back.

“So, Colonel, shall we mingle?” Kaidan stepped back and offered Allie his arm.

“Yes, Colonel, let's.” Allie wrapped her hand around his arm, thankful she was surrounded by people who loved and cared about her and that she was able to love and care about them in return.

**Author's Note:**

> Written on the fly. I got the idea to explore why Shepard might choose to save their clone and it wouldn't let me alone. And as with every damn thing I write, it didn't go in the direction I wanted it to and it's about a page and a half longer, too. Sorry.
> 
> And maybe I should have talked about how Allie's influence in more people than just those mentioned, but I think those are some of the more significant. Besides, I didn't want this to turn into its own novel.


End file.
